Paul A. Jannace: Steeler Nation dominates Tampa

Friday

Jan 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2009 at 12:54 PM

When they say everyone comes to the Super Bowl, they sure meant it. There are events featuring NFL stars and all kinds of celebrities. Everyone from singer Rihanna to Tom Colicchio from Bravo's "Top Chef" will be showcasing their talents in various types of shows and concerts.

Paul A. Jannace

When they say everyone comes to the Super Bowl, they sure meant it.

There are events featuring NFL stars and all kinds of celebrities. Everyone from singer Rihanna to Tom Colicchio from Bravo's "Top Chef" will be showcasing their talents in various types of shows and concerts.

One thing not here?

The fans of the Arizona Cardinals.

That's not to say they won't be well represented come game time, but Pittsburgh Steelers jerseys, hats and shirts have littered Tampa, dominating those donning Cardinal red.

From the walk off the plane into the terminal of Tampa International Airport to the baggage claim, there were more Super Bowl XLIII signs than airline security personnel, and the fact that football's biggest game will be played in this town in a few days could be felt everywhere you go.

Yet the Arizona Cardinals' contingent might be the late-arriving kind, but if one didn't know better and could ignore the Super Bowl signs, one might think you were in Pittsburgh on a fall Sunday afternoon.

It's little surprise to see Steeler Nation running wild since they have the reputation of traveling well, but right now it seems as though the Cardinals' Nest has some catching up to do.

Perhaps it's fitting the Cardinals' faithful is not making itself visible much yet this week. The team's ride to the Super Bowl has been surprising and very few are picking them to win.

So it would make sense, like the team itself, the fans would lie in the weeds, waiting to pounce, then come Sunday, they might just be dumb enough to win.

One of the main reasons the few picking the Cardinals to win is for the simple reason that everyone else is picking against them.

All of that adds to their underdog status, making them all the more dangerous.

There's certainly something to be said about being the huge underdog nobody believes in and using that as motivation and the Cardinals have been asked about that to death.

Truthfully, only the players can tell you if that really works when the game starts.

"You know Arizona didn't have a chance against Atlanta, we didn't have a chance against Carolina and we definitely didn't have a chance against Philly last week, so to those people, tell them to tune in," said Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin.

Some other notes and musings from the first few hours of my maiden voyage to the Super Bowl:

- I traded the cold and snow for warm weather and lots of rain. It still beats the heck out of snow.

- The NFL showed once again why its public-relations people deserve every cent they earn. There were tables set up all over the Tampa airport giving away 64-page booklets about the various activities going on in town this week.

- More on the previous point, the NFL puts together this guide filled with the football-related events people of all ages can enjoy, but then throws in every single restaurant, store and attraction nearby.

- It really goes to show the Super Bowl has become about everything except football. The league's greatest strength - marketing the product - has become its biggest weakness. The NFL doesn't stop promoting itself, even though it's the healthiest of the major sports leagues. Yet there's the old-fashioned football fan in me that wishes the league would let the Super Bowl breathe a bit and allow the football to be enough to draw people in.

- That's not to say the monster the Super Bowl has become is not fun, but it is sometimes disheartening to hear some of the biggest football fans I've ever known turned off by the gridiron's version of the Academy Awards.

Paul A. Jannace is the sports editor of the Wellsville Daily Reporter. He can be reached at pjscribe@aol.com or 585-593-5300.